Ego identity development and obesity in adolescent girls

This descriptive correlational study investigated the relationship between ego identity development and the existence of obesity in adolescent girls. Thirty volunteer subjects were grouped according to normal weight, childhood-onset obesity, and puberty-onset obesity. Obesity was determined on the basis of height and weight measurements. These subjects completed the Washington University Sentence Completion Test for ego identity development. Significant differences in scores of ego identity emerged between: a) normal weight subjects and puberty-onset obese subjects, and b) puberty-onset obese and childhood-onset obese subjects. Differences in ego identity scores were not obtained between normal weight and childhood-onset obese subjects. The author concluded that puberty-onset obesity is negatively related to ego identity development and indicated difficulties with adolescent adjustment during this phase of life.